ኢትዮጵያዊው

23,000 undocumented Ethiopians surrender to authorities

Around 23,000 illegal Ethiopian workers have surrendered to the Riyadh
police, with the Saudi authorities now arranging for their repatriation,
the Ethiopian ambassador told Arab News on Tuesday.

Muhammed Hassan Kabiera said the Ethiopian mission had intervened
because many illegal workers were unsure about how to proceed when the
amnesty ended.

“So our mission had discussions with the Saudi authorities and made
arrangements to enable such citizens to hand themselves in,” the
ambassador said.

Under the agreement, Kabiera said the workers would be kept at various
holding centers until they could get exit visas. “We have been informed
that so far about 23,000 Ethiopians have handed themselves in.”

The Ethiopian Embassy assisted 38,199 workers to correct their
employment status during the amnesty period, which ended on Nov. 4, he
said.

The envoy said the embassy’s officials and volunteers, with various
Saudi government agencies, were working to get the workers travel
documents.

“Ethiopia was one of the first countries to request an extension of the
initial amnesty so that citizens would benefit and correct their
status.” He said the extension “was gracefully accepted.”

However, when many workers could not rectify their status, the embassy began preparations for them to go home.

Referring to the incident in Manfouha on Saturday, where three people
including a Saudi was killed, the envoy said it was unfortunate that
clashes occurred between some Ethiopian nationals and Saudi youths. He
sent his condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives.

He said the clashes occurred because the illegal workers were frustrated
they did not have a way to surrender to the police. They then took to
the streets to voice their concerns, which led to clashes with some
youths in the neighborhood.

“Such confrontations and clashes are unacceptable.” He said the safety and human rights of all people should be respected.